Proud of Pubs Week: A week to get web-wise
'Why on earth would I want to tell people how many times a day I am going to the toilet?'
This is the kind of comment often uttered by social media networking cynics who have struggled to embrace the likes of Twitter or Facebook.
Millions of potential customers use the sites every day. Facebook has more than 450 million users worldwide, and one in every four-and-a-half minutes we spend online is on social networking or blogging sites. Can you afford not to use a form of communication that will be as familiar to the next generation as a newspaper is to the customer at the bar today?
As part of Proud of Pubs Week 2010, which runs from July 19 to 25, we are encouraging licensees to use one of the days, Wednesday, July 21, to get web-wise.
This could mean tailoring or updating your own website, searching for other industry sites and seeing how they can help your business, or embracing social networking sites such as Twitter. Setting up a Facebook page for your pubs is easier and cheaper than a bespoke website.
So, apart from something that thrusts stupid words upon us with the prefix 'tw', such as 'tweet' and 'Twibbon', what the hell is Twitter?
In simple terms, it allows you to write and read messages of up to 140 characters. Twitter messages, or 'tweets', can be sent from your computer or mobile phone.
And how exactly can this help you grow business behind the bar? Well, it is probably best to let licensees who are regular 'tweeters' explain.
Carole Currie, licensee of The Helsby Arms in Cheshire, became aware of Twitter when Barack Obama used it as a promotional tool during his successful election campaign.
She then set about using it to promote her own business, and now has 2,500 'followers' who keep up to date with what's on offer at the pub.
When she tweeted about an MP visiting her pub for last year's Proud of Pubs Week, she was rewarded with coverage in the local paper as well as heightened interest from customers.
She explained: "I watched Twitter and how it worked for months and thought about how it could work for my pub. I decided the best way was to speak as 'the landlady' and make sure my personality came across. I speak to followers like they are friends because that is how I consider the customers." And it is working, with followers regularly making bookings via Twitter or contacting Carole for extra information.
Mark Daniels, of The Tharp Arms in Chippenham, Cambridgeshire, believes online marketing is an essential way to speak to the next generation of pub-goers. "As kids, our dads would go to the pub on a Sunday lunchtime and we'd sit outside with a lemonade and crisps," he said.
"Today that doesn't happen, so teenagers see pubs as places to finish off a night of getting smashed, rather than places to go for a nice night out with their mates."
"However, the young use Facebook and Twitter to communicate with their friends. So if you can get them interested in their local by supporting its Facebook page or following its Twitter feed, you have a much better chance of getting them to see pubs as a place to socialise rather than a place to vomit in at the end of the night."
If getting going on your own still sounds like too much, there is help at hand. Sites such as Use Your Local (see right) and Inapub.co.uk are springing up, designed to make life online a whole lot easier for pubs.
The latter allows you to update details on the site and it spreads the word about your pub via methods such as Facebook, Twitter and smartphones. Robin Brattel, of www.inapub.co.uk, said: "All you have to do is update one page on the website and we do the rest - you're in control of your information and we make sure it reaches as many people as possible."
This allows licensees to post information about events, offers and promotions, giving pubs a digital alternative to the chalkboard. So why not give it a try? And try to promote the benefits of the pub, rather than tweeting about your daily routines!
You can follow The Publican and its staff on Twitter at:
While you're there, follow the simple steps to set up your own account.
Also, check out our Facebook page at
Social networking success
Twitter and Facebook helped one licensee turn a struggling wet-led pub into a thriving burger bar. Former BII Licensee of the Year Chris Lewis changed the name of his Marston's leasehold the Bear in Stafford to the Bear Grill and used Facebook and Twitter to market the pub.
He set up a Twitter account and two Facebook pages - 'New bar coming to Stafford' and 'Bear Grill's coming to Stafford'. He also uses SMS texting and email to send out offers to customers.
Chris said: "When I came up with the burger idea, we knew we were onto a winner when 600 people joined our Facebook pages ahead of the launch.
"We were expecting it to attract the 18-to-24 age group but in fact we have seen a very wide demographic. We often see families and pensioners as well as groups of young people, which was really surprising for us."
For more information visit www.thebeargrill.co.uk
